Ok, so it’s that time of year again where I get to play Samadamus (or is it Nostrasama?) and try to predict what Apple will announce at Macworld tomorrow. There are some things that will be obvious: there will be a phone of some sort, an announcement regarding Leopard (both features and release date), a new iWork and iLife, and of course, iTV. but what will be the unifying element behind all of these things? That element, I believe, will be the one item that has been quietly removed from the Apple store: the iSight.

I’ve been spending some time thinking about cellular video lately, particularly in light of Steve Jobs’ earlier comments about people not wanting to watch video on an iPod. The more I think about it, he’s sort of right. Staring at a small screen for a half-hour for a TV show is too long, and causes too much eye strain. But it’s better on an iPod than on a cell phone, where you are unlikely to have headphones with which to listen to it. That is why the killer video app for cell phones isn’t selling video to watch on the phone, but rather taking video with the cell phone.

Witness the execution of Saddam Hussein.

That execution showed everything that is wrong with cellular video: crappy imaging, no image stabilization, and worst of all, it’s not live.

We know that Apple is loading iSights into all of its laptops and iMacs. One would have to guess that the desktop monitors will have them built in too. The new phones will have them as well. And I think an iSight for iTV will be released as well, so you can chat in the living room. The idea is relatively simple: no matter where you are or where your friend is, no matter what device you are using, you can communicate with your friend without having to think about it. You can use voice, text or video, and communicate with your friend seamlessly.

There may be other wizbang elements I’m missing here, but that’s the theme. undoubtedly, I’m wrong, but if I’m not just remember, you read it here first.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 11:01 pm and is filed under technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.